Mid-Atlantic Members Win $1.5M for Last-Mile Broadband

The Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC), an organization of 55 private sector telecom companies, announced last week that more than $1.5 million has been awarded to its members for last-mile broadband initiatives.

MBC owns and operates an open-access fiber optic backbone network that provides wholesale optical transport services, collocation, dark fiber and tower construction/leasing in rural Virginia.

The monetary awards are 50/50 matching grants, and will enable deployment of broadband services for residential and business customers in unserved communities in Southern Virginia.

The grants were awarded to:

• CenturyLink, for an ADSL deployment in 14 digital loop carrier serving areas currently served by dial-up Internet access;
• DigitalBridge Communications, for expansion of its existing WiMAX deployment;
• Jet Broadband, for high-speed wireless deployment in two targeted areas; and
• Telpage, for a broadband wireless deployment.

The grants are funded by the Virginia Tobacco Commission, and are intended to promote economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities.

According to MBC, the awards will enable more than 15,660 residential and business customers in the southern Virginia areas to have access to high-speed Internet services, where previously the only option was dial-up Internet access.

Read the release.

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3. Level 3 Requests Stimulus Funds for Middle Mile
4. NTCA Members Receive Discount on CMAS Specs until January 15
5. Rural Broadband Take Rates on the Rise